A StarNewsOnline Blog

Your guide to Wilmington's movie and TV production

The ballots for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards were sent out Monday and cast and crew several local productions were offered up as contenders for nominations.

The name released Monday are not the nominees for this year’s ceremony, but those eligible to be nominated. The individual person may submit their own name for eligibility or the production may submit for them. The nominations will be announced bright and early 8:30 a.m. July 10.

Below are all those from local productions eligible for nomination:

Sleepy Hollow

Drama Series

Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane

Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Nicole Beharie as Lt. Abbie Mills

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – John Cho as Officer Andy Brooks

Guest Actor in a Drama Series – John Noble as as Henry Parish aka The Sin Eater aka Jeremy Crane

The Blu-ray cover art for the final season of “Eastbound and Down,” is available now.

The final season of the locally filmed HBO comedy, “Eastbound & Down,” has arrived on Blu-ray and DVD and with it comes a host of extras highlighting the raunchy show’s outrageous moments in front of and behind the camera.

The series, which ran for four seasons, followed former baseball player Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) as he tries to make his way back into the Major Leagues after a less-than-graceful exit.

In addition to the last eight episodes of the series, the set, in stores now, includes deleted scenes, outtakes from the production and audio commentaries for every episode, featuring star and co-creator Danny McBride, fellow creators Ben T. Best and Jodi Hill, and stars Steven Little, Ken Marino and Jillian Bell.

In season premiere episode commentary, McBride briefly spoke about the perks and disadvantages of filming in Wilmington.

“We shoot in the summer in Wilmington. The reason why we shoot there is so we all can just live at the beach. The only price you have to pay is when you shoot in parking lots like this and it’s like 170 degrees,” McBride said about filming a scene outside Cameron Art Museum.

In the commentary, the group also discuss working with local actor Cullen Moss, who appears in a guest role in the episode. Best reveals in the audio that he forgot to invite Moss to the wrap party.

Throughout the insightful commentary, the cast and crew discuss the fourth season, which was not supposed to happen.

“We weren’t going to do this season but HBO wanted one more. So many ideas were thrown around abotu what it would be about,” McBride said.

They did have one request for the final season.

“All we said was that we must have Katy Mixon back,” said McBride of his onscreen wife, who was unavailable to participate in season three.

The series shot portions of all four of it seasons in the region, and shot almost the entire fourth season in Wilmington.

The Blu-ray cover art for the final season of “Eastbound and Down,” available May 13.

The locally filmed HBO comedy “Eastbound & Down” has found a new home.

The series, which wrapped its four-season run last November, is part of new content licensing agreement inked between the cable network and Amazon” Prime Instant Video, an online-only streaming service.

Beginning May 21, Prime customers will have unlimited streaming access to complete series like “Eastbound & Down,” “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” “Big Love,” “Deadwood,” “Family Tree” and “Enlightened,” as well as early seasons of current series like “Boardwalk Empire” and “True Blood,” and miniseries “Band of Brothers,” “John Adams,” “Angels in America” and original movies.

Through the multi-year deal, seasons of current series “Girls,” “Veep” and “The Newsroom” will be made available approximately three years after their air dates.

The new partnership will also bring HBO GO, the channel’s in-house streaming service, to Fire TV, Amazon’s new streaming device, by year’s end.

“Eastbound & Down” filmed portions of all four of its seasons in Wilmington. The final season hits Blu-ray and DVD May 13.

About This Blog

Hi! My name is Hunter Ingram and I’m the film/TV reporter for StarNews Media. I will be the primary blogger for WilmonFilm, but other staffers, including Community Engagement Editor Jeff Hidek and freelance reporter Brian Tucker, are likely to contribute from time to time.

With this blog, I aim to be Southeastern North Carolina’s go-to source for all things film and TV. Wilmington and its surrounding areas are rich with intriguing projects, from the big-budget blockbusters to the small-scale, high-impact independent films. I will post everything from breaking news to offbeat features that will cover every facet of the entertainment news emerging from the area. So bookmark this page and be on the lookout every day for new posts!

While we may be hard at work reporting on the stories we get, we also want your tips, reactions and ideas. Got a story idea that is itching to be heard? E-mail or call me! Want to say something about a post? Leave a comment.